"Charlie." I'm stunned. "Why? I mean, we were never into any of that fanatic stuff, I mean…why?"
Charlie smiled at me as though he was a wise old man about to reveal an obvious truth to a younger student. At that point, I did pull my hand away and crossed my arms across my chest defensively. I was angry with him. How dare he? Didn't he know that everything – everyone, was already changing? Why did he have to go and take away one of my last comforts?
"Don't call it 'fanatic', Ginny. One of our first rules is to give everyone a fair and untouched chance to express their ideas. It's a great set of guidelines to live by. They help you organize your thoughts and ideas by cutting down on your dependence on physical things."
I just frowned. How could he be so calm? Didn't he realize what this was doing to me? I wanted to tell him this, to scream it in his face, even though I knew it wouldn't do any good, but all that came out of my mouth was an idiotic "Oh."
"Ginny, I know you might not understand why I chose this path, but it really is a good choice for me, or, in my opinion, anybody. The meetings helped me to face myself. For example, the ponytail and piercing were just ways for me to stand out in a crowd of red-haired Weasleys. You don't understand that because you're a girl, and stand out because of that, but now I see that I am notable on my own, and don't need anything extra to catch people's attention. Are you starting to understand?"
I just looked down and nodded slightly, though even that was a lie. I knew that if I opened my mouth, the waterworks would start, and I didn't want to cry in front of somebody who, in my opinion, just betrayed my trust.
"Come downstairs. I want you to meet my dinner cohort. She's really a nice young lady. I'm sure you'll like her."
Since when did Charlie use phrases like 'dinner cohort' or 'nice young lady'?
"I'll be down in a minute." I mutter, still avoiding his gaze.
"I realize this may be hard for you to accept, Gin, but someday you may realize how healthy of a way of life it is. Maybe you'll even come to a meeting with me sometime…"
He was waiting for me to agree, or say that I'll at least think about it, but I didn't want to give him the satisfaction, allowing a pause to stretch out between us before responding.
"Just let me take a quick shower and I'll be down in ten minutes."
Charlie sighed. It was the first time in a long time that his disappointment satisfied me in any way.
Just before my door closes after Charlie, I heard mum shout Bill's name out in delight as she arrived home. I sighed deeply. I wanted Harry with me. I closed my eyes and imagined his arms around me, the feeling of safety. I considered sending him a patronus but I knew he was still at auror training and wouldn't be done for another two hours. Dread filled me as I thought about joining my family downstairs for two whole hours without Harry by me, then grief joined the anxiety as I realized I was actually dreading being with my family. How did we get to this point? Everything was different before this past June, when that blasted Battle at Hogwarts destroyed us.
The piano was playing a funeral song that couldn't be more suited to my mood.
-
Cornelia Hennings was a very plain-looking girl, which was the first thing I noticed about her. She had straight black hair slicked back into a high ponytail and a very standard face; pale in contrast to her hair, oval shaped with big black eyes, thick long eyelashes, strong brows, high cheekbones, a small but pointed nose, and the slightest bit of an overbite. I took in every one of those details as I inspected her face while shaking her bony hand, white and cold. She smiled very officially at me, as though it was only because that was the appropriate thing to do. I disliked her from the moment I laid eyes on her, and not just because I saw her as the reason for Charlie's drastic change in lifestyle.
"It's nice to meet you." I said as I tried not to let my distaste show in my fake smile.
"Yes." She said briskly as she pulled her hand away from mine. "Likewise."
After a long pause in which I looked over pleadingly at Charlie and Cornelia looked straight at me, Charlie asked Cornelia if she wanted to see his old room. She just looked at him, frozen and aghast.
"Uh, er, with Ron, of course." He stammered. Cornelia seemed to relax a little, but she still had a sort of stiffness about her that made me want to shake her until she'd unwind. When they were halfway up the stairs, I could have sworn I'd heard her murmur "That top is too revealing…" before her voice faded away. I quickly pulled my shirt down lower to expose more of my cleavage just out of spite.
When they were gone, I tried looking over at Fleur for support, but she was busy rubbing Bill's arm while looking at him sympathetically. Needless to say, I found no other reason for staying in that room any longer, especially with its maddening proximity to the sitting room with that dreadful piano, which at that moment kept repeating a sour chord, trying to hit it perfectly.
I found myself wandering toward the kitchen, as I had done on numerous occasions before the war in search of something to snack on. By the time I realized that I no longer wanted to be anywhere within twenty feet of my mother, however, she had spotted me.
"Ginny!" She said in a high-pitched tone that threatened to rupture my eardrum. "My girl! Come give me a kiss!"
Grudgingly, I walked over to the stranger that used to be my mother and allowed her to kiss my cheek.
"You look lovely. Help me set up for dinner, dear." She continued as she checked on something in the oven, wearing a smile that seemed stapled onto her face.
"Is dad coming?" I asked. It was a bitter question that I already knew the answer to, but I just wanted to do anything to peel that grin off her face. For half a second, it worked.
"N-no, dear. He's very busy at the Ministry. Yes, very busy." And the smile was back. I couldn't see it because her head was still halfway in the oven, but I could tell from her tone and the way her muscles stiffened slightly as she assumed her 'usual' position.
I went over to the cupboard with the dishes and took out enough dinner plates to feed all of us Weasleys minus dad, plus Fleur, Cornelia, and Harry, who I was still hoping would show up in time to save me.
"My God." Ron started as he walked into the dining room just as I was setting the last plate down. "If you can find a more boring person on this earth than that Cornelia girl, I will personally give you half of any income I get from anything for the rest of my life." He ranted as he plopped down into his usual chair. "Do you know that they have a rule, that little club does, that you can't come within three feet of anyone you are interested in, to prevent 'yearning'? I swear I just spent a good five minutes of my life listening to 'and this is my old teddy bear, Mr. Jenkins, and this is my old bed, which naturally isn't as comfortable as it once was, and this is…' blah blah blah. And all the while she's standing there, all straight and pale and whatnot, standing as far away from the both of us as possible. It was desperately boring…" I lost almost all of my attention after that and instead turned my attention to the smell of alcohol on his breath. He was clever in trying to hide it, no doubt about that, but there were still traces of it in the air. What an idiot, coming downstairs in such a state. No telling what mum would do if she caught him; it might have finally snapped her, which may not have been a bad thing. Still, I cast a scent-nuetralizing charm on him. But there was not charm to make him sober.